Means fob moving stalled automobiles and the like



. a 1 1 Mml% M. M. POWERS Filed Sept. 26, 1929 MEANS FOR MOVING STALLEDAUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE INVENTOR MICHAEL M PowERs, BY HIS HT Tamra!Dec. 22, 1931.

WITNESSES:

Patented Dec. 22, 1931 r v i p 'UNETED STATES PATENT GFFFCE a MICHAEL1vr. rownns or cIIIcAeo, ILLIivoIs I p i i i MEANS FOR MovInq srALLEnAUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE p i i g i I Application filed September 26,1929. Serial No. 395,236. v Thisinvention relates to means for movReferring now to the drawings, the nuing stalled automobiles and thelike. It has meral designates the body of an ordinary for its principalobject to provide a, simple automobile whose frontwheels 11 are repreandpractical device whereby the vehiclemay sented as being supported on theroad sur- 5 be pulled, under its own power, out of mud face, andwhose'rear. wheels 12 are repre v or snow, or along a wet or veryslippery sursented as being mired or sunken below the face, where thedriving wheels willnot take road surface. f 1 I hold with sutficienttractive effect to propel Attached to the hubof the left rear wheel thecar in the regular way. Other objects and is a winding device 13 to bepresently :de-'

10 advantagestobe attained will hereinafter scribedin detail, saidwinding device having more fully appear. one end of a cable lt attachedthereto so as to The invention consistsin the novelstruc be woundthereon, and'the opposite end :of tural arrangements of a winding devicesaid cable being attached, as at 15, to a stake adapted to be driven bythe driving axle,and 16, which latter is represented as/being driven 15preferably, having provision for detachably into the ground, and has itsupper end por-I securing it for this-purpose directly to the tion bracedby a diagonal stay l7which'is hub portion of the driving wheel, saiddevice attached to a second stake 18. Obviously,- also having,preferably, provision for the by the foregoing arrangement, the cable'll' attachment thereto of small tools. such as will be wound upon-"thewinding device 13 20 drills, saws, or other rotary cutters, grindingunder the power of the motor of the auto wheels and the like, all ashereinafter demobile, whereby the aut m b Will be scribed and pointedout with particularity drawn towards the anchorage of said cable in'theappendedclaims. Y 14. I I a In the accompanying drawings illustrating Inthe preferred embodiment of the inVena practical adaptation of theinvention, y tlon, the winding device 13 comprises a spin- '15 Fig. 1 isa view, more or less diagrammatic, dle member 19 having an enlargement.or

showing the invention as applied to an autohead portion 20 at one end,which is provided mobile whose rear wheels are represented as with anaxial socket 21, said socket beingpro-- V beingmired; vided with screwthreads that are a counter- 30 Fig; 2 is a fragmentary view, on anenpart of the screw threaded hub po-rtion'22 of larged scale, showingthe winding device as. the driving wheel 12, the opposite endporattachedto thehub of an automobile wheel; tion of said spindle member. 19 beingscrew Fig. 3 isa longitudinal section through the hreaded as at 23.

winding device detached; The spindle member" 19 is adapted to re;

Fig. 4: is a side elevation of the winding de- Cive thereon acylindrical winding member vice detached, the drum member being un- I rm 2 a g n fl g 2 2111 125,

latched with respect to the spindle member respectively. The memberfQ tis detachably and having a handle applied thereto for rosecured on saidme'mber19 by anut 27-, which tating it about said spindle member; 1sapplied to the screw threaded end portion Fig. 5is a fragmentary viewillustrating 23 of the member 19," there being preferably Q I in detailthe means for latching the spindle a washer 28 interposed between saidnut 2 and drum members together; and the adjacent end of said member24.In Fig. 6 is a section taken on or about line order to more securelyinterlock said spindle 6-6of Fig. 2; member- 19 and winding, drum 24,the flange Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modification 25 at the innerend of said, me 2453 of the winding device and preferably provided witha peripheral notch Fig. 8 isa fragmentary view illustrating 29 for thereception of a latch member 30, the arrangement of the opposite endportions which is pivotally mounted, as at 31, 1n a of the cable whichis used in connection with peripheral notch provided therefor in the thewinding device. adjacent head portion 20 of said spindle 19.

Preferably, a leaf spring 32 is provided on the head portion 20 of saidspindle member 19 so as to yieldably engage the squared adjacent endportion and side face of said latch member 30, whereby to releasablyhold said latch member eitherin its lockim osition with respect to theflange 25. of said member 24:, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, or in its unlocked position as shown more. clearly in Fig. 4of the drawings. To apply'the device to thehub of the automobile wheel12,..it .is. only'necessary to remove the hubcap and screw the headportion of the spindle member 19 onto the hub Obviously, in cases where22 of the wheel. all of the hubs are provided with right hand screw:threads, the winding device will be placed on the hub, of. the wheel atthey left hand side: of the machine, provided it .is de- .sired. to movethe automobile forwardly,

whereas,- if ity is desired to move'the automobile rearwardly, the,VlIlCllDg device will be placedon the hub of the wheel at the right 7 Ihand side of the machine, and the cable l l is accordingly anchored infront of or to the rear of the machine, as the casemay be.

After themachine has been moved onto solid ground] whereby it may bepropelled under its own power as under normal condi-' tions', and itisdesired to wind the unused portion of the cable 14 on the windingdevice, this. maybe readily accomplished by loosening the nut 27andreleasing the latch member 30. from the notch 29 in the flange 25 ofsaidwinding drum 24, and applying a handle member 33 to the flange 26 ofsaid drum 2 1- This latter provision is to facilitate the re.-. moval ofthe. spindle meinber from the hub of the wheel.

' casesiit maybe desired to; have an integral While itis preferable toprovide a winding dev ce: including separate spindle and drum members 19and 24, respectively, in some structure in which'the winding drum 24 isprovidedwith a socketed head portion 20 for its attachment to the hub ofthe wheel. In this modification an aperture 36 is provided in the outerflange 26 of the drum for theattachmentof the handle 33.

The cable 14.15 preferably provided with a loop, or eye 37*at its end,which is attached tothed rum 2 1 or 2 1', as the case may be, said drumbeing provided with a stud 38 over which the looped portion or eye 38 ofthe cable is detachably; engaged. The opposite end of the cable ispreferably provided with a hook 39 for detachably securing it to thestake 15 or other anchorage.

As illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the spindle member 19 may beprovided in its outer end portion with an axial socket 40 of suitablecharacter to receive the shank portion of a drill bit or boring tool, orother rotary tool usually applied to a chuck. ,Obviously, also, pulleysfor driving belts, grinding wheels and other useful rotary appliancesmay be secured on said spindle member19 in place of the winding drum24.In this utilizationof the device, of course, the driving wheel 12 onwhich the winding device is at tached, will be' raised above the surfaceon which the automobile is supported, and;the, other wheels blocked soas to prevent move This is anadvantage in j the utility of the device inaddition to the ment .of the car.

use for which it is principallyprovided, as hereinabove first set forth.

Obviously the device admits of considerable modification withoutdeparting from the spirit and scopeof the inventionas defined by. theappended claims, Theiinvention, therefore, is not limited to thespecific construction andarrangement shown in the, draw1ngs.- 7

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is: v v i Means for moving-a stalled automobile or thelike, comprising a winding device including a spindle member havingprovision for its attachment axially. to the hub portion of a drivingwheel, a winding drum fitted rotatably onsaid spindlemember and aperipherally disposed latch element for releasably interlocking saidspindle member andsaid winding drum rotatively.

' 2. Means for moving astalled automobile or the like,compris1ng aspindle member having a] screw threaded, axial socket portion at theendthereof, adapted to be detachablysecured on the screw threaded hubportion of an automobile wheel inplace of the'hub cap, a winding drumsleeved on said spindle member, said windin drum having opposite endflanges, a latch. e einentreleasably engageable in registered notchesprovided therefor j in said spindle" member and. an adjacent end vflangeofsaid drumrespectively, and means cooperating with the outer endportion f of said spindle member and the adjacent end portion of saiddrum'whereby to holdsaid members against relative endwise'movement,

3. In a device of the character described,

a spindle member attachable to the driving I axle of an automobile orthe like'to rotate axially therewith, a supplemental rotatable elementsleeved onsaid spindle member, means for releasably securing saidsupplemental element against endwise movement on said spindle member, alatch element movably mounted on a peripheralportion of said spindlemember and engageablein a notch provided therefor in an adjacentperipheral portion of said supplemental element Where by to releasablyinterlock said spindle member and supplemental element rotatively, andmeans for yieldably holding said latch element in opened and closedpositions.

4. In a device of the character described, a spindle member,asupplemental rotatable element sleeved on said spindle member, andmeans for interlocking said spindle member and said supplemental elementrotatively, said means comprising a latch element pivotally mounted in aperipheral notch in said spindle member and movable into a cooperatingnotch provided therefor in an adjacent peripheral portion of saidsupplemental element, said latch element having right angular facesadjacent/to its pivotal axis and a cooperating spring element engageablewith said right angular faces for yieldably holding said latch elementrespectively in closed and opened positions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.MICHAEL M. POWERS.

